17 July 2018

China continues criticism of Pacific undersea cable deal

Australia's undersea cables in the Asia-Pacific region

HAMARTIA ANTIDOTE | Pakistan Defence | Edited

KARACHI - The leaders of Australia, the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea have marked the start of a project to lay an undersea internet cable between the three countries amid criticism from China that Australia is trying to contain its influence in the region.

Australia is spending nearly $137 million to lay the cable and prime minister Malcolm Turnbull described it as a "very practical way" of providing foreign aid

Back in 2016 the Solomon Islands government signed a deal with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei to lay a cable to Australia.

But the Australian government was concerned Huawei would be permitted to plug into Australia's telecommunications infrastructure.

It believes that while Huawei is an independent company, it retains links to the Chinese government and could pose a threat to Australian infrastructure in the future.

Last year senior government officials told the Solomon Islands government that Canberra was unlikely to grant the company a so-called "landing point" for the cable on the Australian mainland.

The Australian government then announced its support for the PNG cable and a few months later said it would foot most of the bill to lay the cable to the Solomon Islands as well.

In June, Australian company Vocus was awarded the $136.6 million contract to manage the construction of the 4,000-kilometre cable.

Some observers believe the decision was not only due to security concerns but also to counter China's growing influence in the region, particularly its use of loans and grants to build infrastructure projects.

The formal start of the cable project comes amid criticism from within China that Australia is trying to contain Beijing's influence in the Pacific.

In an editorial yesterday, the state-owned newspaper Global Times said, "China's emergence is an irreversible trend and any attempt to contain the country's growth runs contrary to the trend of the times".

The newspaper was responding to Australian media reports that Australia and New Zealand would sign a new security pact with Pacific Island nations later in the year to counter the growing influence of China in the region.

The Global Times warned it would be a "strategic mistake" if the new security agreement was aimed at China.

"Instead of being overly cautious about China's rise, Australia and New Zealand should avoid misleading the region on China's role, and other regional countries should be clear about the consequences of being misled," its editorial said.

The New Zealand government has also copped criticism after it released its strategic defence policy statement last week which said China was challenging the existing international rules-based order.

At a press conference in Beijing yesterday, China’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urged New Zealand to "correct its wrong words and deeds and contribute more to the mutual trust and cooperation between our two countries".